Best Buy picks up Napster for $121 million

by Brad Linder Sep 15th 2008

Napster and Best Buy have entered into an agreement that will result in Best Buy paying $121 million for the online music retailer. It's been a while since Napster's really been the big name in online music (you know, like since the company started charging for music), but Napster currently has about 700,000 subscribers, which ain't exactly nothing.

According to the press release, Best Buy has no immediate plans to move Napster's LA office or its 140 employees. Best Buy will use Napster's "capabilities and digital subscriber base" to offer customers additional ways to find and purchase music. The acquisition is expected to go through by the end of the year.

It'll be interesting to see if Best Buy builds some sort of bridge between its bricks and mortar stores and the online music service. Perhaps you could buy a CD and download a free MP3 version of the album. Of course you could always just rip the CD yourself, but I'm just thinking out loud here. What would you like to see Best Buy do with Napster?

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

Tags: best-by, napster

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

kingkool68 said 12:35PM on 9-15-2008

Free Napster songs when you buy a big ticket item...

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